Across the world, this Swiss Knight has no shield the full plate armour has made them obsolete.

1. Many people have sought long and hard to attach Robin Hood to a known historical figure but for many the mystery of the “unknown” hero makes the legend all the more intriguing. This page considers the setting of the legend and whether or not Robin Hood may have been found in a foreign land on Crusade.

Some of the Robin Hood candidates who have been suggested have been knights fighting in the Crusades, but this seems far removed from the kind and caring man who never harmed a woman and who spent his time in the English greenwood, especially when we know of the atrocities perpetrated by knights throughout the Middle Ages in foreign lands.

Knight of the Garter, C. 1350.

3. The image of Robin Hood being a knight has a hollow ring to it as they were required to be in the field at short notice, heavily armed and mounted on an expensive horse. If a knight was captured, he could expect to pay a huge ransom, in addition to loosing his horse and armour, the legitimate prize of his captor. More important knights, especially those with estates of their own were expected to maintain their position with style.

5. The later middle ages saw a new kind of knight who was a professional adventurer, motivated by nothing higher than gain - a mercenary in fact. By the mid-fourteenth century there were large numbers of these men in Europe, with no place in society other than as soldiers of fortune.

One of the greatest scandals of the age resulted from the recruitment of such men in the “Crusade” against the city of Alexandria in 1365. The mercenaries sacked the city, slaughtered thousands of its inhabitants (including many Christians) stole as much loot as they could carry and then went home, with the result that the city fell back into the hands of “the Infidel” within days of its conquest.

A French Cavalryman, C. 900.

2. An example of this savagery can be seen when the First Crusade reached its triumphant conclusion in 1099 with the recapture of Jerusalem from the Seljuk Turks, Godfery Bouillon presided over the massacre of every single person in the city with the exception of the Saracen commander and his personal retinue who were given safe conduct.

Knight in quest of adventure, C. 1180.

4. This involved supporting other knights in their retinue, as well as squires, pages and perhaps a herald, all of whom had to be fed, clothed, armed, and given costly gifts from time to time. A successful knight could make an immense fortune, as can be seen from the example of William the Marshall and others, but for ordinary knights it could be an expensive calling, and not in keeping with the legend of Robin Hood living the simple life in the Greenwood.

During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it became even more difficult to be a knight because of the enormous cost, which meant it was impossible for kings and great magnates to maintain armies in the field comprising of men motivated solely by their desire to fulfil their feudal obligations to their lords. The cost of a knight’s equipment and horse had become prohibitive and, increasingly, it became necessary to pay knights for their service, or at least tempt them to fight with promise of great booty to be looted from the vanquished. Robin Hood purportedly took from the rich but he returned it to the poor (owner?) and the idea of Robin Hood being a bounty hunter dosen't ring true either.

The tomb of Robert of Normandy in Gloucester Cathedral. The warrior in arms and with his legs crossed indicate that he had fought in the Holy Land.

6. On 20th August 1189 AD Richard the Lionhearted, while on the third Crusade the in Palestinian city of Acre ordered the massacre of two thousand seven hundred innocent women and children who he was holding as hostages. In full view of the Muslim army he bound the prisoners with ropes and ordered his men to decapitate every one of them. The account says, “Without delay his soldiers rushed up and quickly carried out the order, giving heartfelt thanks for what they had done."

Would Robin Hood have done anything like this? Did Robin Hood ride a war-horse? Did Robin Hood have expensive armour, did he live in a large Manor House in great style? It dosen't seem likely and as they say he never harmed a woman it dosen't seem to be in his nature to go on a mission which involves, if we are honest the murder of innocent people.

(From Andrea Hopkins’ book “Knights” published by Chancellor Press)